I can’t seem to wrap my head around why people are against fixing our painfully (apologies for the pun) broken health care system. I recently had the opportunity to visit with an ex-coworker of mine, and I really appreciated her views.
Being a single mother in a low income bracket, her son had access to HealthWave, which is the Kansan version of Medicaid for children. Unfortunately, once she was making $7.50 an hour for 32 hours a week, she received the news the her son was no longer eligible for the program (read carefully on the website. Coverage is never guaranteed. It only states that you may be eligible) . Granted, surviving on $7.50 an hour isn’t too bad, provided that you have a strong social support system. This is something that far too many people overlook. Think about every time your family (and/or friends) pushed you to work harder or set your own standards higher. Think about the expectations you grew up with.
I digress. In the conversation with my friend, she pointed that now health care for herself and her son is now hundreds of dollars a month. In the few years that they’ve had health insurance, they have visited the doctor or dentist a whooping total of five times. After acknowledging that treatment would have been cheaper had they paid out-of-pocket, she said that she wouldn’t mind paying so much (she could afford it now) if only she knew that someone was getting the benefits, instead of knowing that someone was getting richer.
I couldn’t agree more.
There’s a lot in the media about how the United States has the greatest health care system in the world. I am amused at how many people that I know support that statement have never experienced health care outside the US. And in conversations with them, I’ve been having a good time asking them to do a little research of their own. For example, try looking up the following by country:
Infant Mortality Rate
Maternal Mortality Rate
Preventable Deaths
These are just a few examples. Find where the US is on the list. Look at countries that are doing better than us. Then look at how many countries have socialized (or heavily regulated) health systems.
When roughly 20% of each dollar (this is the lowest number I’ve seen. The highest is 31%) is spent toward overhead costs, there is something wrong. At very LEAST, we need to digitize records and standardize billing systems.
This post meanders around a bit (I’ve been studying math for the past three hours and my eyes are crossing), but my points are these. 1) Something needs to be done about the current system. 2) We are not the best in the world, but I have hope that we can improve. 3) It’d be really nice if Americans could work together to create a better system, but I don’t have much hope for that.
(Side note: I am amazed by the number of people who are opposed to health care reform and can somehow manage claim they are religious. Deut. 15:7. “If there is a poor man among you, one of your brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.” Except, of course, unless you think he’s lazy. Or if you don’t like him. Or if he doesn’t share your particular belief system. I know folks that make a HUGE deal out of homosexuality (which the Bible mentions about six time) and yet complain about their tax money going to welfare (verses about taking care of the poor are second in number only to verses about having no gods before God). What happen to the whole idea of not judging?)
I still remember the first time I sprained my ankle. I was doing the long jump and came down on the outer edge of my shoe. My momentum carried me through and my ankle said “pop.” Ever since then, my left ankle hasn’t been the same.
I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with running shoes. I like the way that runners feel on my feet. I strongly dislike having to slog the extra weight after a few miles. To that end, I’ve had a mixed relationship with running. I love running around as a kid. Then, facing a mom who (rightly) believed that lots of exercise was good for a growing girl, I was strongly encouraged to do cross-country and track. I was not a fan.
Some of my favorite memories have been times spent in various parks with friends. We’d take off our shoes, stretch out on the grass, and enjoy a beer and some good conversation. Inevitable, someone would bring a ball of some sorts and we’d all be up having a good time. But I think that the removal of shoes was key.
I digress. Recently, I read an article about how shoes aren’t really that good for you. Actually, they are bad. We have thousands of nerve endings and dozens of tiny bones that we have specifically for the purposes of locomotion. And what do we do? We try to out-think our bodies, which is kinda dangerous. More and more research is showing that we’re pretty well designed and we really shouldn’t mess with it too much. Science has provided innumerable ways to improve on our flaws (I think we can all agree that glasses are a good thing), but too often we try to fix what isn’t really broken. Recently, we’ve come to depend on pills for things that we really could correct naturally. I wonder how many pills in the US could be avoided by a lifestyle change. I also wonder how many podiatrists would be looking for work if everyone took off their shoes.
I’ve had problems with my ankles and also my knees and hips (though to a lesser degree) for quite a while. In Korea, I wore high heels more in three years than I had before in my life. Now, I’m putting aside my shoes for the next few weeks to see what happens. I also started running this past week and this morning I took my first jog barefoot.
It’s cheesy, but while I was running, I kept thinking of all of my barefoot memories. )When I was eight, I prided myself on being able to sprint on gravel. I can’t do that now, but my feet have retained some of their toughness.) I only ran for about 20 minutes (with some walking-I’m not in shape), but for the first time in ages, I enjoyed myself. I had a lot more to think about. Not only did I focus on my breathing (I read that exhaling on your left foot helps to avoid side stitches), but I also got to enjoy the different textures under my feet. I don’t know how it will be when the novelty wears off, but I supposed I’ll just find different paths to take.
Now back at home, I’m becoming very aware of all the muscles that have become rather lazy in my shoes. A little painful, but in that nice “I’ve just worked out” kinda way. As with anything, it’s best to easy in slowly.
But I’m still looking forward to tomorrow.
